Census reveals loss of 44,000 heritage sites

Around 44,000 of China's 766,722 registered heritage sites have disappeared, according to the press conference of the third session census of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) on China's fixed cultural heritage on Dec 29.

The third national heritage sites census is the largest such census since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, and has recorded the registration of 766,722 fixed cultural relics. Among them, 536,001 are newly registered.

In addition, around 17.7 percent of the country's cultural relics are relatively poorly preserved and 8.43 percent are in a state of disrepair, according to Shan Jixiang, director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

Commenting on the reasons for the damage to and disrepair of the country's heritage sites, Liu Xiaohe, deputy director of the survey of State Administration of Cultural Heritage said: "The reasons for the damage [to cultural heritage sites] can be divided into six categories, one of the most important of which is economic construction." He added that many heritage sites are demolished due to economic construction.

Furthermore, most of the demolished sites are unprotected and were denoted as fixed heritage sites by counties and regions. By contrast, protection units overseeing national and provincial key cultural relics were rarely disbanded. In addition, some heritage sites were demolished without explanation.

The census recorded basic information about these sites, including the total number, distribution, age, natural environment, the level of protection and damage factors.

Workers compiled detailed files for each site in order to address existing problems. The information recorded included basic information about the sites, drawings and photos.